Let me start with saying that I know there is an error against English grammar in the title. Even though I’m not a native English speaker I still do know that ‘brather’ is not a real English word.

But I will come back to that at the end of the article. So if you want to be smart and you want to call us out for not even being able to write a headline without mistakes be my guest and go to the comment section. Others might read the article and will then understand what this is about.

[Very good Walter, I’ve just corrected it in the headline and had to go back and find the original again to uncorrect it. Proof reader]

We need an extra defender, a central defender, a full back and most of all we need a defensive midfielder. With some of the injuries we had this is not false. I know it is popular believe that people think that Untold is not only paid by Arsenal but that we also are against us buying new players. Perhaps the next rumour spread about Untold is that if Arsenal don’t spend the money on transfers we get a piece of it. What do you think of that Arsène and Ivan? [IG and AW – I’ve just emailed you my bank details – better to pay the dosh to me and I’ll pass it around – the Untold bank account is very confusing. Financial manager.]

All jokes aside with the arrival of Mathieu Flamini yesterday I think we have covered all those places in one move. Flamini has played in all positions in defence in his career and is original a defensive midfielder. And having him for free I think this is a nice move from Arsenal.

Let us go back to his earlier time at Arsenal. A utility player who was put on the field wherever we were missing players. Maybe being to versatile was a bad thing for Flamini in those days as whenever the regular returned form injury he got dropped to the bench. He was the jack of all trades at Arsenal and never really appreciated. And I do have to admit that even I thought he just wasn’t good enough. I admit having said to one of my sons at the start of the season 2007/2008: he can’t kick a ball properly.

That season Flamini made me eat humble pie. And proved that, well, I do not know it all. And made me realise that after all Wenger knew better than silly me. I learned my lesson with Flamini and on a few other occasions where I had doubt about a player. Mind you I did call Wilshere and Ramsey exceptional talents when I first saw them play. They just need a good cover behind them. Like Arteta can give. And like Flamini can give. {I got Vieira right after five minutes of his first appearance but thought Henry was “all over the place”- Tony}

At the end of the season 2007/2008 when we were robbed of the PL title by a string of strange decisions going against us and some horror images still burning in my mind, the contract of Flamini came to an end. And Flamini went to AC Milan. Looking for his childhood love. And adult love also from what I’ve been told. He had been a fan of AC Milan in his youth so going there was just following the dream. Maybe his name that sounds Italian has something to do with his love for Italy and Milan?

And so Flamini went in the same way as he had arrived at Arsenal that first time: no transfer money paid. A free transfer. Going from Marseille to Arsenal: no transfer fee. Going from Arsenal to AC Milan: no transfer fee. Going from AC Milan back to Arsenal: no transfer fee. And well… in 3 years time we will probably see him leave Arsenal to wherever he goes at the age of 32 years old without a transfer fee. Will Flamini be the first player ever to have played at such a high level for four different clubs with never having been paid a transfer fee for?

Is Flamini the white knight who is fighting the transfer system on his own? It is rather remarkable to be honest. You could also say he is a man who honours his contracts. So is he the honourable white ridiculous-transfer-fee fighter? I probably think he is just doing what he thinks is best for his career. Oh and he seems to be a client of Darren Dein. Help me out on this but I think this is the first time Dein has brought someone back to Arsenal.

As to his career in Milan… It didn’t started too badly. But then he got some injury troubles and it was a bit like in the earlier years at Arsenal: in and out the team. The grass in Milan wasn’t as green as it was in London. Well we have the best pitch for as long as I can remember so no real surprise about that.

His contract ended in the summer of 2012. And after some negotiations (mostly because he had a bad injury in the season before) he got a new one year contract and had to take a big pay cut. And again the start of last season was with some troubles injury wise. But then when he got fully fit he turned the tide. Not only his personal tide but also the AC Milan tide. I have heard that he was instrumental in their recovery last season. AC Milan was halfway through October and stood only 15th in Serie A, one point above the team in 19th place. And when Flamini came back and was fit AC Milan started a recovery that brought them to 3rd place and in to the CL.

And then after that good season…he left. We have heard it before. And he could have stayed in Milan as they offered him a new 2 year deal. But Flamini wanted to go, said no to a few other PL teams, asked Wenger if he could train at Arsenal and the rest is history.

I have unfinished business here, was what Flamini said. And he referred to the 2007/2008 season. Exactly my feelings also, Mathieu.

And, the “brather” thing. I almost forgot. Back in those days at Arsenal cumulating in the 2007/2008 season Flamini was part of what one could call the four musketeers. The four musketeers were Alex Hleb, Cesc Fabregas, Thomas Rosicky and Flamini. It seems they had lots of fun and were always seen together also outside football. And they stayed good friends. And for some reason Cesc always said that those other 3 where his ‘brathers’. Probably being not English native speakers one had meant to say ‘brothers’ but with his foreign accent said ‘brather’ and they found that so funny they referred to their group as the brathers.

The evening that the first rumours came above water that Flamini could re-sign for Arsenal Cesc Fabregas posted a picture on his twitter account of the four brathers. Yesterday after it was announced that Flamini had signed Fabregas posted a picture of Flamini in his new Arsenal kit. Saying: Goodluck on this new challenge my “brather”.

Or we’ve signed another player who is injury prone. An average of 19.2 games a season over the last five seasons with Milan. Not a great amount seeing as though there are others in the midfield with similar injury histories.

Flamini, a big welcome back… Please bring ‘Brather’ Cesc along… How I wish Hleb could have made it back too… well, Ramsey and Wilshere and Ox are there for that Role and Carzola/Wilshere for the Cesc Role. Giroud/Poldi for the Adebayor/Eduardo role…

It was strange seeing Flamini’s photos on the official site. He looks like someone who looks like Flamini…

He won’t be the same player we saw in 07-08, but he does provide some much needed versatility and experience. I can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness because he evokes memories of what the future of Arsenal could have been. Cesc and Flamini running the show for a decade. We might have had that as well, or close to it, if we’d won the title in 2008.

Oh well. We can hope for Jack and Aaron to do that this time around, but considering we now have the funds, we can also give them some more support. Like Flamini provides as well. I think if nothing else, Flamini might be able to put in some crunching challenges on the players who target Wilshere.

I can’t say Flamini is my favourite player ever, and even though I was not upset with him too much when he left,I don’t like the way he calls it returning ‘home’. He comes off looking like a bit of a c***. But maybe that’s a good thing. We can use a bit of a c*** in the squad. No point being too nice in the EPL.

Certainly the rumours are that Cesc is coming back in one year’s time. And… there’s the problem of what we call him in relation to the Flamini Fallacy. Prodigal Purchase doesn’t work because we didn’t buy him.

If hes a supplementary signing, then he covers us in a few positions so I can accept that.
But we need much, much more. We have a very thin squad, yet pots of money.
Great to see the deadwood cleared out. We have made the room, now lets get the players we need to make our club great again.
We have the core of a really decent squad – a few dabs of quality here and there would help us step up a level. We shouldn’t even be thinking about spuds, we should be looking at the title.
The money is there, I hope our team of negotiators know how to play with the big boys!

Walter whatever it is you are smoking please stop. Have you read arseblog this morning? Some extracts which I think are absolutely bang on th dollar:

“But I can’t help be worried. If the sum total of our summer, one in which I think we’ve tried quite hard to bring in new players – and ones who would kick us on to a new level – is a freebie from Ligue 2, and a freebie Flamini, then it’s not unreasonable to be concerned that we might fall short in the final days of the window.

Even if the approaching deadline focuses minds on what we have to do and leaves no room for vacillation or uncertainty, we still have to deal with the fact that Arsene Wenger likes his transfers like Goldilocks likes her porridge. Everything has to be just right, or he’ll simply put the kibosh on it. In my opinion he’s a man who is struggling to operate at the level we expected him to deal in this summer.

It’s not all on him though, despite the fact he’s the one that calls the shots and makes the ultimate decisions. A man who had more faith in the people around him, his scouts, negotiators, and administrators, wouldn’t feel the need to micro-manage the way he does. He won’t go beyond the valuation he puts on players which appears to be arbitrary rather than dictated to by the market.”

He furher explains:

Chants, imploring the club to spend money, aren’t complicated. Fans don’t shout “Build a new stadium and sort out of a very attractive mortgage for it and get some of the money up front on restrictive commercial deals which we know might hamper us in the short-term but are absolutely necessary to get the stadium built.”

No, they want Arsenal to invest in footballing assets. That’s all. It’s been 104 days since we finished last season. In that time we have spent £0 on the team. Not a single penny. No transfer fee has been paid. We’ve saved hundreds of thousands every week on wages by letting at least 12 senior players, and countless youths, leave the club. We’ve made a profit of £10m in the transfer market through the sales of Gervinho and Mannone (not to mention the loan fees we’d have received for the likes of Coquelin and Djourou).

“We can do some things which would excite you,” said Ivan. He forgot to add “If you’re an accountant.”

There’s still time for Arsenal to do business. I sincerely hope they do because I want my team to improve and to compete. But if we’ve gone 104 days without spending a penny, I’m not going to hold my breath between now and Monday.”

Now that is a well balanced piece. Does not accept all is rosy when we beat a piss poor turkish team and two cloggs fulham.

From the outside I have to say we look more of a shambles everyday! All we can hope is that we are wait to sign one or two from REal once Bale is complete but I cant see that happening till Monday and leaves us in great danger of missing out on anyone!!

The first 11 is almost good enough to beat anyone but the squad will struggle due to lack of depth.

AW is so close to loosing the support of all the fans, a bad result/injuries on Sunday and no super super quality signings and it will be almost certain he leaves at end of the season.

Feel so sorrry for the players cause for the sake of a few pounds these guys would have a shot at everything

I actually think flamini is a great signing and to be honest he is a better defensive midfielder than arteta, ramsey, wislhire, frimpong or diaby. it might just be that he becomes a starting x1 player as opposed to a squad man.

however to say in signing him we have an extra defender, centre back, right back, left back is absolute nonsense. sure he can cover but then we lose a defensive midfielder and most likely our best one.

to be fair, that is a pretty good team & could well be the team that lines up against spurs on sunday with just changes to the bench:
jenkinson for vermaelen
frimpong for arteta
ryo for chamberlain
sanogo for podolski

@Walter, I admire your optimism when the likes of Adams, Seaman and even Bob Wilson have been calling for signings.
The latest is that spurs are trying to delay the bale deal as long as possible so that we do not go in for any madrid players…if that is true and wenger is simply waiting on his ass hoping Bartender is fit then he’s got another thing coming….Hey now that would be a masterstroke we will have the greatest player in the world back in our team.

the problem is 5 of that 2nd x1 are currently injured, so along with the 2 signings required, we are relying on hayden, bellerin, frimpong, zelalem, gnabry, ryo and sanogo to fill the gaps. so in effect we need 7 signings NOT 2.

@ GoonerDog. If we go past the deadline without substantial reinforcements, made even more impoartant because of our CL draw, it will be Super Fascinating to see the editorial comment on this site. In particular if and how they hold the club and its leadership accountable OR whether they find excuses and justify our lack of spending.

By the way, I’m not an AAA (is anyone?) and I don’t want Wenger to screw up this transfer window just to watch some of the people here squirm.

Walter-
There are those of us who have valid points to make, and are not here to abuse anybody. There are loads of fans left bitterly disappointed by our lack of activity in the transfer market.
Yet when we air our views, you seem to take it personally. To infer that those who disagree with you/other posters cannot think for themselves/drink too much/make no sense etc.etc. simply alienates you and your blog from fellow AFC supporters, who would probably sit down with you and have a few drinks were we to meet in person.
Not everybody thinks AW should leave, but similarly, not everyone thinks we have used our resources properly, especially this window. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Rarely, if ever, does anyone here seem very interested in actually discussing these things. You seem to have a siege mentality, and you are guilty of tarring everybody who complains with the same brush.
Funny that – on some blogs, if you say anything good about the manager, you are an AKB member, so your opinion is invalid. Yet here, any type of constructive criticism is met with disdain and unwillingness to discuss.
Victory through Harmony?
Sorry for the longwinded post, am genuinely worried about the division in our fanbase.

Despite all these noises around Spurs’ market activities, they look more like “panic buys” to me
It looks that AVB has just recognized that the tranfser of Bale to RM will not only weaken his team, but also ease the way of Arsenal great signings and improvement

@GoonerDave
You make some good points. The reason that we on Untold appear to have a siege mentality is because in the majority of cases the posters who come on here with an opposing point of view invariably adopt an insulting, rude and disrespectful tone from the outset, both toward us (as Wenger supporters) and Wenger himself. That is out of order and gets my hackles up straight away and so the battle lines are drawn. If a little more civility and respect were given to us and Wenger these confrontational exchanges would be much reduced.

Wenger has brain washed some Arsenal faithful into believing in his ideologies which to be precise has not worked for the past eight year unfortunately. In his eyes, all media, pundits and even those ex-players know nothing about football management! Yet here we are signing a 29 yr old who left the club only to return as a free agent and no club could offer him a chance because of his injury record! He maybe a good backup but where is our ambition with top top players? Are we getting serious to challenge for the title or we are still in it to add numbers? Hay, wait a minute, B52 is staying and might as well feature! I stop it here but i seriously know that time is running out for Wenger & his baddies to prove most of us fans wrong!

“Oh and he seems to be a client of Darren Dein. Help me out on this but I think this is the first time Dein has brought someone back to Arsenal.”
Walter,
In this statement, it’s unclear to me whether you are just being factual or are somehow finding something satisfying (as in AFC has somehow risen in stature) in Dein’s role here? Unless Vermaelen is (as I think) Darren Dein’s client, this might also represent DD’s return to Arsenal (after clearing out so many of our best). Are you glad to see this, or doesn’t it trouble you that in the light of all that DD has done to undermine this club at his own enrichment (and possible revenge for the ouster of his father)?

Flamini is a smart move, and with the assumption that he can cover defensively for the next couple of years, it solves one of the squads issues. That conclusion also relies on the fact that one (or both) of Coquelain and Frimpong are seen as long term solution.

@Shard, I have posted here that I view Flamini’s departure (and return) with far less animosity than even that of Cesc. Without going back through all the details of that, he saw out his contract and took the chance to go and live and play in his father’s country.

But back to context, I see getting a guy of his quality and age on a free as a great thing, but it is hard to sell when we are looking at the window shutting on Monday, with us having plenty of money left, and having only filled one of the holes in the squad. Its a Center back, Striker, some choice about keepers and maybe a Left wing as a minimum for me even ignoring the injuries.

Another way of putting things into context. If you look at the first team on .com right now, we have 25 players.

2 are on the way out (Park and Bendtner*), so actually 23.

6 do not need to be put on the 25 (Frimpong, Sanogo, Carl, OX, Ryo and Jack — just), so 17 over 21s.

Diaby is out until the new year, so 16.

That ignores any other injuries we are carrying, but is a measure how short we are. (and those numbers include Flamini).

If you add Jack, Carl and the OX back in as they are regulars (and we might need them to fill our home-grown quota), we could easily increase our depth by 6 players.

Someone (Shard?) linked to a good article about how many players we need to get through a season, and while I disagreed with some of the conclusions, the data was interesting.

Essentially in the past we have needed around 17 first teamers who can start 10 or more games for us, and a full squad of 24-25 who start at least once. We just manage the first right now (but not the second), but it would require everyone to be able to make 10+ starts, and gives us no room for leeway. With 3 injuries already….

None of the analysis says anything about quality of course, but neither does it say anything about progressing beyond our current league results.

Just to point out, the data only counts towards league games, so bringing in kids for the cup matches isn’t part of the numbers.

I’m one of the most glass half full types around here, but even I’m starting to get nervous.

*I don’t see us ever playing the guy again, despite the fact we seem unable to get rid of him.

@MoW
It is not overtly rude, but it is couched in sarcasm and innuendo which puts it into the disrespectful and slightly provocative category as far as I am concerned.
Or maybe I am being over sensitive.

But I do think there’s a risk of sounding sanctimonious. As if one line of opinion is reasonable and another is dismissible as belligerence. I get the feeling the rudeness card is overplayed on here as a defence to unwelcome criticism.

Incidentally, I was told to FUCK OFF (not my capitalisation) a few days ago when I hadn’t been rude to any of the posters. As you would agree, not very grown up. But this is the Internet…

On the Internet, people can be whatever they want and they can take whatever position that suits them.

Isn’t it sanctimonious of you too to defend Giddy’s point as fair while calling out others for considering it belligerent? You can decide whose point you support or oppose but things get complicated when you try to gauge belligerence. It’s all opinion and you can’t call mine santimonious just because you disagree with it.

If some commenters told you to fuck off (with or without capitalisation), give it back to them in kind. That is what I’d do. I don’t know the context of your conversation with your abuser so I have no idea whether you were rude or not.

Why have we not made other signings?
Could it be the same reason Wenger keeps saying we need to sign quality players?

I know the fans often think he is talking to them when he says this stuff but in reality it’s for other clubs, players and our board, newspapers just ram it down our throats because it makes them money.

I remember the line “if we sell our best players, no one could ever take us seriously” – obviously a subtle dig at the board aimed to make hold on to important players. Maybe now we have the ‘we need super super quality’ to signal that we will fail unless we are allowed to spend.

I’m just reading between the lines here and saying maybe Wenger has not been given any money to spend but has been told he must go along with it if he wants to keep his job. This afterall would ensure the money keeps flooding in.

@Edu
‘there’s nothing predominately different about the arsenal squad,’
Correct, apart from the fact that the predominantly young squad is now a year older. That will result in them being better and more mature than this time last year in varying degrees.
Furthermore the squad is largely unchanged, so togetherness and teamwork will be better.
The three foreign signings from last year will be better for having a years premier league experience under their belts.
That is three reasons why we will hopefully be a better team than this time last year without any additions.
Signing new players is not the only way that a team can improve, though to listen to 99% of the so called experts you would think it was the case.
I agree we need to improve the depth of the squad, but Arsene is right to say he will not be panicked into buying for the sake of it. If push comes to shove youngsters will have to be given a chance.
I think some people see new players as some sort of trophy to brag to their mates about.

One of the things that Arsenal have tried to do is bring young talent and develop it. I think Barca try to do that too! This means that rather than having to pay high prices for talent that is established they can bring up youth. Clearly the club does not feel they have to over pay for players because they can bring in some of the younger players. Currently some of the best players for the gunners are home grown. Potentially there are others emerging who will be very good.

So all this angst to signings is not to understand the policy of the club.

The transfer market is not an accurate appraisal of value. This is clearly seen in the Bale move to Real. He is not really worth that much as a player. Real is buying a symbol. I for one am very pleased the Arsenal resist the pressure to buy symbols and try to find real value in the market. So Carzola, Poldolski and now Flamini are examples of this.

Often at the end of the season when transfers can be evaluated by what they did, we find that value to the club is not in line with the transfer price. Andy Carrol is an example of this. It is better to make good signing then it is to make lots of signing at high prices.

@Bootoomee
yeah you are right ‘belligerent’ but we are beginning the season and rightly we have lost 3 points against Aston Villa and at home which means even if we beat every team, we must pray that any of the big teams will loose or must drop points for us to win the league. Does that look hollow to u? Well what will we be judged with at season end? The die is cast and Champions league where we normally rake a few quids have still handed us a food for thought. Whichever side that u or me take whether being positive with the manager who have not achieved much by utilizing the club available resources or otherwise is up to you. But what i know is that come the end of the season, the report will be out whether we have achieved any progress or not. I pray that all of us be there when the club will again tell the fans that they are ready to move to another level in spending just for them to renew the their tickets!

I think the return of Flamini is a decent move and certainly worth a shot. Let him be judged by his performances. We should certainly wish him well.
I’m a tad confuddled by the apparent chess match being played by Arsenal and Spurs at the minute.
1. Spurs want (or probably need) to sell Bale before Monsay night.
2. Real want to sign him by then.
3. Arsenal want ( or possibly need) to sign a couple of Madrid players by the deadline ( Di Maria and Cassillas would be cool) .
4. Spurs want to achieve point 1 and prevent point 3.

Who would appear to have the upper hand in this dance? Is the transfer process flexible enough to allow some kind of conditional contracts be in place that just require some dotting of I’s and crossing of T’s at 22:55 on Monday night. Or, are we at the mercy of Spurs if they choose to stall and leave no time for the Madrid to Arsenal transfers?
Help please!!!

While doing research for the Medical Division of UA , chanced upon this article which made to smile .After all
laughter is the best medicine – many doctors often laugh all the way to their banks !
Not me though ,I see the AAAA lurking in every medical condition ! Have a look and see it as I see it !From

1) Borborygmi: This is the rumbling sound you hear in your stomach, made by the movement of gas in the intestines.
(Treatment – Try to divert this movement of gas to the cranium so as to stimulate some brain function.But if your brain is situated ‘ a lot lower’ , then ‘ hot air’ still ensures .)

2) Labile: “Characterized by wide fluctuations” such as with blood pressure, blood sugars or mood (think menopause).
(I more wont in thinking of the deranged , misguided and unreasonable AAAAs !)

3) Pruritus Ani: Pruritus of the anal region, more commonly known as itchy butt.
( Not much to add !)

4) Choledocholithiasis: Stones in the gallbladder and common bile duct. This is a crazy word for a fairly common condition.
( So that’s why so much bile is spewed up and out .Its like fur balls in cats !)

6) Xerosis: Dry skin. Enough said.
(Treatment – Get out of your basement ;get some sun ; smell the flowers; and try live a normal life like the rest of us.)

7) Aphthous ulcers: These are canker sores, the white shallow ulcers you get in your mouth that hurt way out of proportion to their tiny little appearance.
( An apt description of AAAAs. Only they don’t hurt – more of an irritant or a slight discomfort !)

8) Epistaxis: The medical term for nosebleed.
(What we’d expect from the usual suspects if and when Arsenal get back to their winning ways !)

9) Menometrorrhagia: Irregular and heavy bleeding. Not to be confused by Menorrhagia which is heavy bleeding during your regular period, menometrorrhagia is heavy bleeding during your period as well as other times in between.
( Non sequitur !)

10) Bradykinesia: This is slowness of movement, either the slow ability to start or continue movement. We see this in Parkinson’s patients but many folks after the LA Marathon looked like this too.
( We also see it here ,but they tend to overcompensate
the slowness of their minds by cussing and swearing .)

No I’m not being sanctimonious because I’m not using rudeness or belligerency as a filter to whether people’s opinions are worth debating. I refer to Gooner Dave’s original point.

“Rarely, if ever, does anyone here seem very interested in actually discussing these things. You seem to have a siege mentality, and you are guilty of tarring everybody who complains with the same brush.”

Mick then agrees with siege element of this point but points out the style of opinion justifies this. You then seem to back him up,

I just wonder whether we should focus on opinions not style. And go back to GD’s point. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the loyalists here accept any criticism of the club, the decisions made, or hold Wenger and Ivan to account on mistakes made.

As for your last point. There’s far too much toxic entrenchment in the Goonersphere. On both sides. I hate it. Getting into a base slagging match on the Internet only makes matters worse. Plus it’s not very classy IMO.

Mark,
Further to your comment, some clubs buy these marquee players when at the top of their game (and therefore at their top price) only to find that the player didn’t improve and instead deteriorated after 1-2 seasons (if that long)

Dec – If we are indeed genuinely interested in those RM players then I’ve been riddling that one myself. Would be nice however if the Spuds played it too cute and at the 11th hour RM said £40m for Bale take it or leave it!

On another note why is it argued that only Arsenal will improve from ‘squads being a year older.’ Surely if that is the case logic suggests all the teams will benefit thereby eradicating our supposed improvement?

@GoonerDog
I agree other teams could also improve in the same way Arsenal could, Aston Villa for example. However not many teams have the same mix of youth and ‘same squad as last year’ as Arsenal do at the moment. Spurs for example could find themselves with problems trying to integrate so many new players in the same way we did in the year Fab and Nasri left and as QPR found last season.
I was simply making the point that there are other ways of improving and developing a squad other than buying.

@ GoonerDog you are very right. the supposed internal solutions or rather improvements from within only apply to arsenal and not other team as if they have bought new players or their players were never young last year! Its a remote argument to present.

Mick – appreciate what you are saying and hopefully what you say about the Spuds will happen on Sunday so that we get the 3 points and avoid a civil war.

My concern is that when your squad has had its numbers reduced as ours has mere improvement by who remains will unlikely be able to carry us through the season with all of the games that we will be playing. The only remedy to this, that I can see, is by adding numbers.

“One of the things that Arsenal have tried to do is bring young talent and develop it. I think Barca try to do that too! This means that rather than having to pay high prices for talent that is established they can bring up youth.”

Yes, Barca have a reputable youth program but they a) supplement the kids with super super quality and have regularly bought big names on big money throughout their history and b) are successful on the pitch as a result. So I don’t get your comparison.

“Clearly the club does not feel they have to over pay for players because they can bring in some of the younger players.”

But hasn’t Wenger said countless times that we need to buy players? Hence we can’t rely on the current squad. And what does over pay mean?

“Currently some of the best players for the gunners are home grown. Potentially there are others emerging who will be very good.”

Jack and Gibbs? Who else? Is our keeper homegrown? Does he count as of one of our best players? Maybe I’m dumb but I don’t get this point.

“So all this angst to signings is not to understand the policy of the club.”

With respect, I’m not 100% sure you understand the club’s policy either based on your comments. The CEO publicly stated we have the firepower to compete with bigger clubs, and that we have more muscle to recruit better playing staff. Even if your statement was true, I wonder how relevant your point is when so many ordinary fans are disillusioned with the club’s progress on the field and apparent lack of ambition.

“The transfer market is not an accurate appraisal of value.”

Says who? Have you studied economic theory? The market is competitive, transparent and efficient. All of these things would suggest prices are set fairly in line with value.

“This is clearly seen in the Bale move to Real. He is not really worth that much as a player. Real is buying a symbol.”

And therefore before you suggest the market doesn’t work you should ask what the value of the symbol is and what the value of the player is. And then ask how and why Madrid place a value on the symbol element. I don’t see evidence of a broken market.

“Often at the end of the season when transfers can be evaluated by what they did, we find that value to the club is not in line with the transfer price. Andy Carrol is an example of this. It is better to make good signing then it is to make lots of signing at high prices.”

Carroll was too expensive. It’s a fabulous example but there’s case studies on both extremes. Wenger’s job is to improve the squad and not get sucked into Dalglish style errors. Personally I don’t think Carroll is a remotely credible argument to justify why Arsenal shouldn’t spend big money on super super quality.

“I feel a pride in Arsenal’s way of doing things because it is smart.”

And what’s smart about it? In terms of tangible evidence on the pitch and in the trophy cabinet what part of this can be called smart? Furthermore, given the crisis between fractured supporters and the sentiment of mainstream media, what part of this is smart?

@Giddy
Did you not read my 2.03pm post?
GoonerDog, we all agree that ideally purchases should be made to improve the squad, there is no dispute there. What I do not agree with is it will be the end of the world if we don’t.

Do we really need to wait till the world of Arsenal end in position 6 or 10? its debatable but to me that is too little too late and the damage will be great to repair or simply put it, “NOT GOOD ENOUGH”!

Really Mick? I suppose it depends on the clubs ambition. By not replacing the depth are we giving ourselves the best chance to compete. If the club have have no ambition then yes its not the end of the world.

“I agree we need to improve the depth of the squad…”
Mick,
Ok, no massive buying spree for the sake of buying. Yep, got that. Now back to football: what about the depth question that you concede, advocate or embrace in you sentence above? Given injuries at hand, and for the last several seasons running, do we need to buy quality depth? Would you allow seven figure multiples for such splashes? Or are you fine with we can truly compete in 4 competitions and make actual headway in the Very tough CL draw to come?

Wow! I have been reading thus site for over 2years on daily basis, I don’t think I ever left a comment “bad” but, this article is one of the best I ever read and am glad. I get great knowledge about AFC and a lot around football biz such that when I discourse it with other AFC supporter they learn but eat me up after. I am a non registered AFC fan but they call pro wenger. Am from Lagos, Nigeria West Africa

@Bob
I do want to see progress and improvement but NOT at any price. I admire Wengers refusal so far to be sucked into this crazy escalation of prices in this summers transfer activity, though I suspect he may have to concede defeat and go against his principles.
Higuain £24 million yesterday, £35 million today. Not for me, no sir. Eric Lamela to Spurs for £35 million, hardly anyone had heard of him this time last week. It’s crazy given we are supposed to be encouraging FFP.
How about you Bob, are you in favour of paying well over the odds in order to progress?

@ Mick
You throw up some interesting examples. But the club has to be held accountable for the bottom line results. All of our peers are operating in the same market. We can’t slip further and further behind our rivals without questions being asked about our leadership’s ability to successfully negotiate with our peers in a highly competitive labour market. Simply put, if we fall behind then they’re mismanaging the club. End of discussion. The highest tickets prices in the world and a mountain of cash in the bank attest to that.

I think that’s a slight misreading of Wenger’s ‘philosophy’. He’s never said he’s against spending money. He’s against spending money the club doesn’t have. We have money. Of course, every player has his valuation, and I don’t know why he gets criticised for having a valuation, because it’s not like it’s unique to him.

manCity don’t buy every player for 50m. Whatever they pay for them is because they feel the player is worth it for the price.

This isn’t an absolute, and it also depends very much on what your budget is, and what the alternative is.

Since our budget is now higher (or at least should be higher) and we know we’ll have about 70m increase in revenue as well over the next few years, our valuations can go higher.

@Mick, yes the prices are crazy for some players but that’s how it is. You can moan about it and it may revile your ethics but you either get in there and scrap with everyone else and fork out millions or you sit by and watch everyone else hoover up the talent and labour in the shadows of more ambitious teams.

Wenger’s latest comment about players’ prices not being linked with the quality of the players means what exactly? If RM are prepared to pay 86 million for Bale then that’s his value according to them. It doesn’t matter what Wenger thinks of it. Personally I think Bale’s worth half that but I’m not the one who’s putting a value on Bale’s head.

And I must admit I find it a tad hypocritical when you’re quite happy to sell players like Anelka at a huge profit. If we had Bale do you think Wenger would be meekly telling RM that we think 86 million is a little too much and let him go for half that? I doubt it.

We are becoming a laughing stock. Why did Gazidis brag so early on about this so called “War Chest” and then not do anything about it. Gazidis hasn’t got a clue about football. He may know how to run a profit making club but when it comes to the game, and the fans, this guys is out of his depth. The sooner we see the back of him the better it will be for the club, the fans, and Arsene.

Eriksen alsoclose to movng to spurs…AW next comments will be : I had a chance to sign all the players Spurs did this summer a few years back

Why are some people getting so worked up over the Bendtner thing? We know he’s refused to go anywhere despite multiple offers. It’s not like Wenger called a press conference to announce Bendtner as our new star striker. He was asked about Bendtner (probably, I have not watched the pres conference.. You know..because Matt will say I’m lying because I express an opinion) What do you expect him to say? No Bendtner is useless and we would like him to stay as far away from the first team as possible? He would never disparage a player like that.

I’m ok if we use Bendtner is the League Cup or something when we don’t want to risk injuries. We are paying him after all. I doubt even that will happen though.

@Matt, back then Cesc was probably worth about 35 million. In today’s prices he’d probably go for twice that.

RVP was way undervalued, easily a 50 million pound player but he had only one year left on his contract. Having said that I wouldn’t have sold him anyway. I lost a lot of faith in the club when we did that. But then I’ve seen it all before with Brady.

That (having a thin squad, and injuries on top) is a problem. Wenger’s words on Bendtner have nothing to do with that. It was hardly a ringing endorsement. We don’t even know what the wording of the question put to him was. Maybe he was asked if he’ll use him. I wouldn’t expect an unequivocal ‘No’ from Arsene on that.

Wenger has said he’s confident of making signings before the window closes. You don’t take him at his word there (and neither do I). Why take him at his word over something like this just to criticise?

Cesc was undervalued because he would only go to one team. RVP..I wouldn’t have held on to him. A player like that can be cancerous to the squad, plus I think we strengthened ourselves by getting in Cazorla and Giroud instead of RVP. It allows us a stronger platform to build on. Which is what this transfer window is about. Building, rather than re-building, and I would be very disappointed if we don’t do that.

@Shard, I think it’s hilarious that’s all. I don’t care if Bendtner plays or not but if he, Flamini, and Sanogo remain the only signings, which I don’t think they will, our club will look amateurish simply because we had a CEO bragging about our sudden enormous financial firepower and we end up spending nothing at all. I like our current first team but there’s no way we’ll be winning the league or the CL with a squad so weak. Even Wenger must know this so if he doesn’t sign anyone what does that tell us?

Why not just write Arsenal.com? Why liken the official website of the club that you support to the reviled mouthpiece of the Soviets? You may not like the news that you get on the website but until you can prove that they are lies, you don’t call the website a propaganda outlet.

You can’t equate Arsenal.com to Pravda and then complain when called AAA. Cut out the hyperbolic stuff please.

Shard,
I’m looking forward to that taking stock as well. I’ve been looking forward to it after last summer’s window and the promises to come in the next two windows. Right now, fingers and toes crossed that some successful quality signings cross our threshold.

And Mick,
It’s not your money, not our money, and not the club accountant’s money. We are in football and have football needs to fill if there is ambition to win or contend at the top of the major competitions. If not, then we have different visions of who and why we root for this team. That’s fine too, imo. But the notion that their money (which some of us have paid in) is actually your money to spend or not to spend is way off base. Are fans actually to be volunteer guards on someone else’s bank vault? Maybe you like that feeling?

@shrd..Gazidis got a huge bonus when we sold Persie and single handed Man United the league!! What is Gazidis doing at our club, no player wants to join Arsenal anymore cause they know every season will the same……….a damn hard fight for top 4…. cause Arsenal dont have amibitions anymore….when money blinded our eyes we shot our self in the foot

haha..I just spent some time to take Russian lessons and then watched Wenger’s press cofnerence on Pravda.. The part about Bendtner is funny because in my view that was Wenger’s way of saying ‘not a chance’ to the question of whether he will use Nicklas Bendtner.

Wenger said “If he doesn’t leave and prepares well and is fit..Really fit.. I will use him.”

Have you tried at hand at writing? Such poetic language. Who cares if it doesn’t mean anything specifically. It sounds good.

when money blinded our eyes we shot ourselves in the foot.
when trophies blinded our eyes we shat ourselves in the pants.
When the derision blinded our ears we shoved our heads in the sand.
When impatience blinded our logic we joined the cacophonous derision.

I can see why you enjoy talking like that, but meh…

The bonus was for the commercial deals most likely. But sure, if it eases your frustrations, make up reasons for how unjust life is and how Arsenal are unfair in paying Gazidis their own money. And yes. It is the club’s money. Once you give it away, it’s not yours.

Watching that press conference, as recommended to me right here (although sadly it’s shock value was low) Wenger seemed very relaxed. He was smiling and joking with the journalists. He also said ‘Yes’ to being asked if he was any closer to completing signings.

Doesn’t mean anything of course, but right now I’ll take all the encouragement I can get.

Hyperbolic? Maybe, although ‘playing a martyr’ is accepted language for someone who acts like they’ve been wronged, over nothing. Irony? I fail to see how, except that the irony of you using sarcasm to say sarcasm isn’t allowed was shown up by my comment.

If you’d prefer debate instead of playing this ‘game’ then stop acting like your views aren’t accepted on this site. There is no censorship, and if you don’t like the debate, you are free to leave. But maybe, like I explained once to rupert (and he listened) you should also take a look at yourself and how you express your opinions. Because it is definitely not about your holding an alternate opinion. How you express it makes all the difference.

You don’t set the agenda for the site, so if you don’t agree with it, it is even more incumbent on you to make your points better than others who’ve been on here and have already had/continue having discussions over the little nuances in their positions, while still agreeing on the larger view of the club. There’s plenty debate that happens here, and a lot more would if people with diametrically opposite viewpoints expressed them respectfully, and with a clear intention to debate, rather than to spoil/dominate one.

Flamini has been nothing more than a crock and very mediocre player at AC Milan. Rossoneri will tell you that. One good season at Arsenal and that’s all.
That fact he was resigned by Wenger is a complete joke. AKBs will probably say ‘Oh yes, but he has PL experience and he didn’t cost anything. Shrewd business by Wenger’. Bunch of accountants, the wages. The clubs resources are still being wasted again. It seems Wenger has shifted the deadwood (after many years bleeding the club’s coffers) only to replace them with more of the same. Flamini now is shite.
Once again Wenger is more worried about what other clubs are doing instead of making his f*cking job. No wonder Arsenal are shambles. If he concentrates all energy and time he wastes criticising other clubs affairs on Arsenal, maybe things wouldn’t have deteriorated so fast.
£7.5m a year for incompetence, no accountability and having fun making fans look like mugs? I know why Wenger doesn’t want to leave…

I have difficulty debating Arsenal with anyone who considers Arsenal.com as equivalent to Pravda. It shows a mindset that we at Untold have labelled AAA.

Those of us deluded AKBs have our disagreements too. I was REALLY critical of Flamini’s return when I first got the hint here. My strong objection was well debated with facts and I softened towards the guy in the end.

I love good honest open minded debates. Unfortunately, many (who are labelled AAA here) come with closed minds about how Arsenal is a terribly run club that is in decline thanks to the worst villain of all time: Arsene Wenger. Their mission is to spread the word and convert us patient Gooners to their way of thinking.

Flamini, a player well past his best who was only too keen to leave arsenal and their lack of ambition at his peak.. In contrast, though it pains me to say it, well done to spurs, they have come up trumps with another couple of signings and top drawer signings at that. They show arsenal how to manager losing their best player, how to pr proactive over the summer months, and they are not finished yet. In contrast, arsenal are leaking hints we are after various Real Madrid or a Chelsea player. These are the most slippery clubs to deal with, and arsenals completely inept transfer team stand no chance against such sharks. Wenger will be outbid for these players anyway, and we all know what he does when a higher bid goes in, yet he tells the world he is a good poker player! Arsenal will probably end up with little more from this window, in which case, a very well deserved finish outside the top four. The spurs team must be buzzing at the ambition the club are showing, arsenals players must be completely bewildered at best, contemplating exits at worst, have a feeling this will show this weekend.look forward to your justifications when it has all gone wrong late Monday and we go into the rest of theseason with thirteen first team squad players standing, one striker, no left wide men with Podolski and ox out and only two fit central defenders. I am what you guys call AAA but even I never thought wenger and the club would fuck it up to this level twice in the last three summers

13m can get us Sakho, a tall, strong, talented French international CB who also plays LB? If we’re not looking at this guy, then Wenger has completely lost it. I have never resorted to insulting Wenger on here because he deserves respect regardless, but what is he on? Who does he think he is? All I hear from him are riddles and contradictory excuses. How come we are looking for special players, but have ended up with Sanogo, Flamini and Bendtner? How can there be no players on the market better than what we have, whereas players like Eriksen and Lamela were available? Does he think he’s immune from the laws of nature and logic? With bigger squads and better players in the last 8 years, we’ve failed to win anything. So we sell off our best players progressively, deplete the squad numbers… and then think we’ll finally be able to win stuff? WHile our rivals have strengthened? Deluded doesn’t even begin to cut it! And I wish he didn’t comment on Spurs’s new buys, because it just made him look daft and short-sighted. EVEN IF the new buys destabilise the team THIS season, you can bet your bottom dollar that they’ll gel in time for NEXT season. It’s a work in progress being undertaken by a proactive manager building a team for the future with a mix of talent, youth and experience. It’s looked for a while now that Wenger has been consciously trying to sabotage this club as some of his decisions have been baffling. And please, no one mention our run last season. That was Wenger simply realising that everyone else was right – tighten up at the back, and you give yourself a chance to win games! I don’t know if that’s even worse because it shows that he knows what the logical thing is to do, but defiantly refuses to do it – to the detriment of the club. Nah… this just cannot go on… Something has to give!

How anyone can assume Spurs new signings will fit right in with no trouble is a bit unimaginative. Half of their team is new, that means they will have the original style plus 5 new styles, that’s gonna take some major choreography.

News coming through that we have signed Draxler from Shalke for £38 Mill, don’t quote me, this is a new grape vine for me.

We lose a game and it is because we haven’t spent. They hail Man city as an example because they did their business early, yet the lose to new comers Cardiff. Spurs are now seen as challengers because they spent big, not because they have superior tactics or the foreign players getting used to the premiere league. It is generally believed they would start destroying teams. There is no caution some foreign players take time to adapt to the league. I believe in Wenger and I pray the players can return that favour and deliver for him. No one can accurately predict where we would finish. If despite all the pressure Wenger still persists with his way of doing things, then I am 100% behind him.

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art..
When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.
About a month later, just before Christmas,there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands..
He said, ‘Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly… He often talked about you, and your love for art.’ The young man held out this package. ‘I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.’
The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture.. ‘Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift.’
The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.
The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.
On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. ‘We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?’
There was silence…
Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, ‘We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.’
But the auctioneer persisted. ‘Will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?’
Another voice angrily. ‘We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh’s, the Rembrandts. Get on with the Real bids!’
But still the auctioneer continued. ‘The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?’
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. ‘I’ll give $10 for the painting…’ Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.
‘We have $10, who will bid $20?’
‘Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters.’
The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son.
They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel.. ‘Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!’
A man sitting on the second row shouted, ‘Now let’s get on with the collection!’
The auctioneer laid down his gavel. ‘I’m sorry, the auction is over.’
‘What about the paintings?’
‘I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will… I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.
The man who took the son gets everything!’

Still time for wenger to do rather a lot,think bale has held things up on a few levels. If however wenger does nothing that is his choice and live with the consequences whatever they may be he surely will. Still convinced he has clear targets a clear strategy and knows much more than his doubters

Yeah, I guess that if there were definite realistic targets then agents would have done the deals with the clubs and business could be concluded reasonably quickly once the Bale money has been secured etc. Don’t know if this is a Daniel Levy ploy to prevent us from completing our transfers, but he’s certainly very effective in this regard. Would that we had someone like him.

I am ‘chillingy’ questioning your motive when you defend posters who use the word “brainwashed” to describe those they disagree with but you are then befuddled by a commenter showing his support for the manager and those of us applauding such.

I can read man and your comment is not meant to seek enlightenment. Your last point was about not having “unconditional support for any one of its employees” which implies that Osita was doing this. I don’t know how support for AW’s transfer philosophy implies “unconditional support”.

To be clear, you have the right to hold a different opinion as well as to defend those who use the word “brainwashed” to describe those they disagree with and those who “ironically” or “sarcastically” equate the club’s website to Pravda. But you don’t get to question those hold a different view and those who applaud them for it.

I want to know the rationale for the, lets call it, “ultra Wenger loyalty” or what some might say “AKBness” or whatever the suitable word us. This is why I come on here.

6 years ago people called me an AKB. On other sites. There was discussion. Debate. A few arguments. But there was an exchange of reason. I’m not an AKB. In truth I probably wasn’t one since Chelsea knocked us out of the CL quarters during the invincibles a year. But am certainly not an AAA. I’d be happy to have that discussion. So Bootoomee, you sound like an intelligent and articulate Gooner. Can you indulge me please?

As we know wenger rarely if ever lets on. Think you may be on to something about levy delaying things for us jax agree we could do with such a fixer we once had one but that is in the past. Have a feeling this is all more complicated than just the suggested Madrid targets though but there should be some rich pickings at the last minute. Yes wenger did seem confident in that press conference didn’t he! I expect three points and three players tues am

OK. I love explaining why I have faith in and support Arsene Wenger even though, like every other Gooner, there are moments when his decisions drive me crazy. Those of us called AKB (and I am a VERY proud one) have very few differences with other Gooners. I call those differences: Perspective and Patience.

Except those blinded by rage due to our trophylessness (which is responsible for 99.99% of the hatred directed at the man), Arsene Wenger is globally respected as a manager. He has showed what he can do by winning trophies in 2 different continents. He has showed US what he can do between 1997 and 2005. He has particularly showed how good he is by repeatedly qualifying for Champions’ league with ‘less than adequate teams’.

Perspective is needed to see why we have performed below Manchester United (who were never our mates to begin with), Chelsea and Manchester City (who both have billionaire sugar daddies) in the last 8 years.

No Gooner mentions Liverpool anymore but they SPENT huge amounts (as regularly prescribed for Arsenal) in order to match the previously mentioned teams. They came second one season and have been out of top 4 ever since.

Liverpool spent and still failed. Does this not show that spending does not necessarily guarantee anything?

Arsene Wenger has faithfully, at the expense of building his own CV, stood by Arsenal during the most difficult period of building and paying for our world class stadium and income generator, while guiding us regularly to compete amongst Europe’s best with ‘deadwoods’ and ‘lightweight’ players!

Arsene Wenger has more at stake from Arsenal winning trophies than our ever complaining fans. Which of us have the 2003/4 Unbeaten season on our CV? Well, he does and so he would with all of those missed trophies since 2006!

Patience is what we need now. Our club is now financially stable and we have reached the point where we are among the top 5 clubs in the world by revenue or market share. This is a wonderful place to be. We should not jettison the policy that got us here in favour of the one that has made a Liverpool a mid table club.

We are going to be getting stronger and stronger from now on for 2 reasons:

1. Our young players are maturing and getting better. They are the core of our team and they are mostly British. I have no idea of when we’ll start winning trophies but I know that as long as we are in the mix and getting close, we’ll win someday. Wigan won a trophy for goodness sake!

2. We are financially strong enough to keep our existing players and pay big amounts for the ones that we think are worth it. Who would have believed that Arsenal will be bidding £40 million for a player?

We need patience. We are going to get stronger but it will be an organic, slow and steady growth in strength. Those expecting us to splash the cash need to calm down and see things from the manager’s point of view. Additions are coming before the window closes. AW has REPEATEDLY said this and I believe him.

We all need to keep the faith, support OUR team and show some respect for the manager.

I have made the suggestion to Tony before. I hope he considers it and that it can be incorporated unto the website. Comment rating is great as it enables lurkers who don’t like to write to show their support or opposition by a click of the mouse.

Bootoomee well said this summer marks the point whereby we can start to change the way we operate in some aspects not the end of the journey. We are still up against major obstacles refs the new French rich the sugar daddies etc but we are getting better and better placed to take this on first and foremost by keeping our very best and lets face it we already have some wonderful players

I agree with most of what you say. Your first three paragraphs are spot on. And I agree there’s far more common ground between the polarised extremes than differences.

I’d add one more to patience and perspective; trust. Or faith if you want to be more emotive.

I also agree that we are in an excellent position as a club. l think we should be looking at top 5 in Europe given our geography and demographics.

I guess all I need to know is that if the management don’t improve the squad you will hold them to account and expect improvments. Which would imply criticism and if needed further action on “your” behalf. Or in other words; I think Arsene Knows Best but if things don’t improve then perhaps he doesn’t Know Best.

You probably know this, but all the angst, all the critics, all of the stuff in the press, the AAAs as you’ll them, it’s in the most part caused by lack of tangible action so far. We don’t know why we haven’t been reinvensting all of our cash over the last few years. It’s a small thing. But it sticks in the throat.

Furthermore, those in the media and many the fans who tend to see Wenger as an increasingly fallible human being, find his media performances often undermine is crebility, and tend to give the impression he’s somewhat entrenched in some esoteric philosophy, perhaps based in the principles of thrift and egalitarianism. Who knows frankly. This is just how he plays to many of us. But action speak louder than words. If he makes the right moves in the market he will demonstrate his ambition.

My preference would be that we have a Wenger based solution. I like him as a coach, but not as business exec or football philosopher (I find him embarrassing personally). So in other words, I hope you are right.

Fixing our problems is really quite easy. Improve the squad. Spend the money you have. We’re in the same market as our peers, and ultimately if you improve the squad relative to them you’re good at your job, if you fail, then you not as good as I, personally, expect you to be. Its simple. There’s no excuses.

We’ll wake up Tuesday morning and all will be much clearer. For me and many Gooners, Wenger isn’t just buying players, he’s buying back credibility. He’s buying back our trust.

Not picking a fight, and not having a rant. I agree with a lot of what you say.

I think if we don’t buy in this window, the fans should demand, and expect some answers. I’m usually someone who doesn’t support the demand for more information from the club, because I think it’s largely unhelpful and a demand based on a sense of entitlement, if not malice. But the events of this summer, do demand some sort of information. Not to fix culpability or make a scapegoat, but to figure out what went wrong and how to improve it. I also think that it’ll help the club’s perception because not talking, not giving us some facts, has resulted in rumours, myths, and fears taking hold and ruling the day. Actually, we should demand some information even if we buy Ozil. Benzema etc.

I will not hide the fact that I love Arsene Wenger. I believe he’s a great person, and a great football manager. Maybe…maybe..the criticisms have been right and he needs help in the transfer market. Maybe not.. (Which is why I would demand information)As to the playing side, I know his faults are highlighted but I think he’s a fantastic manager. And you know, what makes him also great in my eyes..He will never do what you said right at the end. He will buy for the good of the team. Never to simply win back credibility/trust for himself. I respect that.

If they do not augment this squad very serious questions need asking of the different levels of management at this club and its ownership it will be at least tempting disaster asking what we have now to complete let alone compete until jan with our resources but have faith all will be better very soon. Wenger would not do anything to harm this club failing to sign after letting around thirty go may well do just that and so I am convinced wenger will do what clearly needs doing

Information is helpful. I’d rather listen to Ivan talk money and business than Wenger.

But actions are what counts in business and real life. At the top. Under pressure. In the public eye. It doesn’t matter if you are a CEO, sportsman, politician, coach, whatever. Results are the bottom line. And patience and trust are finite. The shareholders, voters or fans will hold you accountable when things get worse and they perceive you don’t really know what you’re doing. You can’t say after what, 7 years at the club IG and AW haven’t had enough time together. Commercial deal upgrades should have been on the radar years ago. Ivan should have been able to forecast the new rates. Same with Sky upgrade. He should have models. Strategies. Who knows why they sat on the cash for so many years. Who knows why they didn’t nail this summer, given its been on the radar for so long. It just smacks of incompetence to me.

Fair enough if you love Wenger, I guess I used to love Adams and Dennis and Henry. But not in the irrational, everything they do is genius way I loved The Sone Roses. Maybe that’s what AKBs are. People who love Wenger like my girlfriend loves Wilbur Smith novels. Maybe the tagline to this site’s title splash testifies to that. Wenger isn’t a manager, or administrator, but an artist. An entertainer. A lifelong partner your are devoted to.

Your second paragraph presents a straw man argument and a below the belt punch at Shard and others who believe in Arsene Wenger. Myself, Mandy and Shard have provided the ‘enlightenment’ that you claimed to seek but see how you end the debate?

None of us sees Arsene as infallible and all our posts contain caveats about how he gets it wrong sometimes and how we disagree with him. But none of these matters to you because we don’t think he is responsible for cancer and every other evil that has befallen man. If our love of the man is irrational, so is your hatred of the most successful manager in the history of the club that you claim to support.

This is why you get called AAA. I am a proud AKB. Interpret that as you like. I am proud of the man called Arsene Wenger and long may his reign as Arsenal manager continue.

Oh dear. And I thought we were getting on so well. It wasn’t intended as a low blow. Sorry to Shard if it caused offence. I was trying to rationalise it in a broad minded way. And I’m sorry you’re so damn touchy.

But you seem to now officially be putting me in the AAA camp. So well done sir. You’ve convinced yourself I’m against the club.

Go back and read your own words in the paragraph that I referred to. It’s insulting to write that to those that you don’t have contempt for. Here it is again in full:

“Fair enough if you love Wenger, I guess I used to love Adams and Dennis and Henry. But not in the irrational, everything they do is genius way I loved The Sone Roses. Maybe that’s what AKBs are. People who love Wenger like my girlfriend loves Wilbur Smith novels. Maybe the tagline to this site’s title splash testifies to that. Wenger isn’t a manager, or administrator, but an artist. An entertainer. A lifelong partner your are devoted to.”

This paragraph ignores most of the caveats that has been included in the exchanges.

From me: “there are moments when his decisions drive me crazy.”

From Shard: “maybe..the criticisms have been right and he needs help in the transfer market.”

Are these people who think Arsene Wenger is infallible? I find your kind of writing a cheap way to win an argument. It shows that you have not heard anything that has been said.

Matt,

7 is greater than 6 as we all know. Funny to see you write about percentages. Isn’t the number of trophies all that counts as we have been repeatedly told? We may act like Arsenal was established in 1997 but you act like the club has been winning trophies every year until 2005 and it has been fighting relegation since.

Well I was just reflecting on what Shard said. He said loved he Wenger. I wondered what that was like. I was trying to draw my own comparison. I wasn’t caning Shard. I was trying to empathise. Not in a clever condescending way. But if you’re insulted, I’m sorry. Outside of loving your family etc I was trying to think of comparisons. I came up with bands and authors. I love Spielberg. All his stuff. I know he’s not perfect but I still defend him and usually insist he’s the top dog. I’m a fanboy. Maybe you’re a Wenger fanboy. It’s not intended as an insult by the way.

I wasn’t trying to make watertight argument. It was conjecture. Idle debate. Too idle. Perhaps. Perhaps the word irrational was wrong. Probably was. You could have called me out on that, i.e. the argument itself, instead having a hissy fit about my personal motives, tone, style, rudeness etc. But fair enough if you find me cheap and patronising or whatever…

You didn’t respond to an earlier point:

“I guess all I need to know is that if the management don’t improve the squad you will hold them to account and expect improvments. Which would imply criticism and if needed further action on “your” behalf. Or in other words; I think Arsene Knows Best but if things don’t improve then perhaps he doesn’t Know Best.”

I’ve never missed a single article on this site for the past 21 months reading every single comment here. Firstly, i’m a Nigerian and i’ve never known any other manager on the Arsenal bench except Le prof (My dad was a juve fan, so i support till after the 1996 Atlanta olympics when coincidentaly was around the time Arsene joined ). Please you’ll all have to permit my use of english as it’s my fourth language (Hausa, Yoruba, Pigeon English and English in that order).I’ve learned lots of beautiful things in life and coming to this site made me understand what “perception” truly means. I never had the best father-child relationship with my dad till his death because i hate instructions, unfortunately for me that’s one of my dad’s strongest quality(tough guy). So he passed on last year, a day to the begining of my final year exams in the university and lots people think i shouldn’t sat for the exams due to the obvious traumatized state i’ll be in unknown to them that i wasn’t feeling traumatized at all, i wrote the exams and came out excellent. I talked to my mom and some people who were closed to him and after these consultations, i regret ever thinking the man does not love me completely cuz i learnt two important things; 1) I was never patient enough to understand his decisions on “my life” 2) As a popular figure, he never had time to explain his decisions to me. So to the Arsenal issue, i always apply this approach to all things the club does. I’m always trying to be rational and positive no matter how irrational or negative the club has done and no matter how toxic the public/fans/media opinions are, hence, i bagged myself the name “Omo Wenger” which means Wenger’s kid. What i do is support anything associated with the team, Terry is the player i hated most but i’ll cheer him if he’s to join the club. Let’s just appreciate Wenger for putting the club before his CV unlike mourinho who said publicly that he’ll leave if he failed to win trophies to his expectations as if that’s anyone’s fault. Conte of Juventus reaction after the transfer of matri to millan shows how hard to it is to cope with stadium movement. He said and i qoute “I wish one day, i’ll be told i’ve £50m to spend. What ever happens on tuesday morning, i’ll never stop loving Arsenal, Arsene and the players. sorry for the long story and call me an AKB, i’m a proud one at that.

Please note the the RSS feeds do not work in Chrome. Please use IE, Safari or Firefox